It seems to me there are two extremes when it comes to meal planning. There are people who never plan – the ones who prefer to “wait and see” what they feel like eating. They’re also the ones who, understandably, don’t have much discipline when it comes to sticking to a diet plan. On the other hand, there are those whose meal planning is just a tad too routine.
When I was in high school, my best friend’s mom stuck to the same menu week after week – Monday was chicken, Tuesday was spaghetti… you get the idea. The only time I’d accept an invitation for dinner was on Sunday – or, “surprise night”. Somewhere in between these extremes, though, lies a healthy approach to meal planning that doesn’t have to be stressful or time-consuming. So if your idea of meal planning means choosing between sausage or pepperoni on your pizza, listen up – here are some pointers that might help.

• Keep a stash of quick, healthy recipes you can turn to. Simple and nutritious recipes are easy to find in cookbooks, magazines and on the web, and when you’ve got a couple dozen to pick from, you can rotate them over a few weeks and your dinners won’t become too routine.

• Always have healthy staples on hand. Keep veggies, fruits and seafood in the freezer and keep your pantry stocked with staples like whole grains, canned beans, tuna and tomatoes, chicken or vegetable broth, spices and herbs. With these items on hand, you’ve got the start of a healthy soup, curry or pasta dish that you can throw together in no time.

• Look for convenient shortcuts you can use. Frozen veggies can be substituted for fresh, and convenience items like prewashed salad greens or precut vegetables can really save you prep time. Whole cooked chickens or ready-seasoned meats from the grocery store are also great time-savers.

• Prep once, cook twice (or more). If a recipe calls for half of a chopped onion or bell pepper, don’t stop there – keep chopping, and stash the rest for another day. As long as you’re browning ground turkey for spaghetti sauce, why not brown extra to use in tacos or stuffed peppers tomorrow? Make extra brown rice or quinoa and freeze for another meal. The grains stay moist and reheat well in the microwave.

• One-dish meals generally combine your protein, your vegetable and your starch all in one dish – they’re healthy, they’re balanced… and you’ll have a lot fewer pots and pans to wash.

If you’re organized enough to plan your meals for a few days, it does make life a lot easier. Once you’ve chosen your recipes, you can make your shopping list for the week. When you’ve got your menus down and your ingredients on hand, the meal-planning battle is practically won.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

I’ll never forget a client I had years ago. He brought in a ‘perfect’ food diary. He followed his meal plan to the letter, and every calorie (or so he thought) was accounted for. But his weight just wasn’t moving the way he’d hoped. As we talked, I noticed that he kept popping breath mints in his mouth. When he started unwrapping his second roll of mints, I just had to ask –exactly how many mints was he eating every day? “These little things? – I don’t know… maybe 5 or 6 rolls.” Who knew that “those little things” added up to more than 300 extra calories a day?

Sometimes the extra calories are so obvious, you wonder how people don’t notice them. I had a roommate in college who was always dieting (and never losing), and I used to get really amused watching her weigh out the one ounce of cheese she allowed herself for a snack. She always cut too much. She’d weigh the block of cheese, then cut off a little bit….and eat it. She’d do this over and over, until she’d whittled a two-ounce piece of cheese down to one. Completely oblivious, she had no idea she’d eaten twice as much as she was supposed to.

Those who keep food records usually do a pretty good job – at least when it comes to noting what they eat at their meals and snacks. But when I instruct people on how to keep an accurate food record, I make it really clear…. other than water, anything that passes your lips gets written down, no matter how insignificant it may seem or how small. Because those extra little things can really add up. Don’t believe me? Here are some real life examples … courtesy of my clients.

• Free sample of a burrito at the grocery store: 100 calories

• Crusts cut off while making son’s peanut butter and jelly sandwich: 75 calories

• Six steak fries eaten absentmindedly from friend’s plate over lunch: 120 calories

• Last few spoons of mashed potatoes from dinner (not enough to put away for tomorrow): 110 calories

• Three bites of dough while baking chocolate chip cookies: 150 calories

• ½ piece of garlic toast and ½ cup of spaghetti left on child’s plate: 200 calories

• Few bites of leftover chow mein, eaten while standing up at the sink: 90 calories

• Six vodka and cranberry juices every night after work (okay, this client knew he was drinking a few calories… but he couldn’t believe that liquids could add up to 1200 extra calories)

That dash of cream in your coffee, the candy you filched from a co-worker’s desk, a few handfuls of your date’s buttered popcorn – it all adds up. Take a look back over your last few days – have a few extra calories have sneaked up on you?

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

People have different reasons for wanting to shape up – finding out what motivates you can help you stay on track.

There’s no doubt about it – change is hard.  I frequently tell my clients that my job is much easier than theirs – my role is to advise them on how to eat better, while they’ve got the more difficult task of having to actually do it.  But my job doesn’t stop at simply handing out advice – I also try to help people find what it is that will motivate them to make changes.  And the reasons are all over the map.  For some, just the goal of getting healthier is all it takes to kick start the process.  On the other hand, that probably won’t motivate the ones who tell me (and I’ve heard this more times than I can count), “I’m perfectly healthy, I’m just fat.” 

Whether you’re trying to lose weight, add muscle, shape up or just want to eat healthier,  you’ll probably be more successful if you can figure out what’s driving you to do it in the first place.  And everybody is different – there’s no right or wrong reason.  Most people focus on the positive – like “I want to have the energy to keep up with my kids” or “I want to look better in (or out of) my clothes.” Others take the opposite approach and focus on moving away from the negative – like, “I don’t want to avoid the mirror any more” or “I don’t want to feel so tired all the time.” Sometimes, unfortunately, it takes a health scare before people ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ – but it can drive people to make incredible strides towards better health.  And, as the saying goes, better late than never.

Some people have specific goals that motivate them, like wanting to look good at an upcoming wedding or reunion, or being able to fit into their favorite jeans. One client of mine had a very specific goal…she wanted to be able to just hop into the driver’s seat of her car – rather than having to first move the seat all the way back in order to accommodate her enormous belly before climbing in.

 You might get motivated by thinking about how good you’ll feel as you get healthier and fit. How terrific would it be to have more energy, to feel more flexible and strong, or to look great in some new clothes?  If ‘avoiding the negative’ is what gets you going, then it might help you to think about how you’ll feel if you don’t take action.

 And when you feel your motivation waning – which happens to mostly everyone -  remind yourself why you embarked on this makeover in the first place.  Keep your focus on your feats rather than your failures. Try paying less attention to what the scale says, and give yourself a pat on the back for all the behaviors you’ve changed.  After all, the positive changes you make in your diet and lifestyle are really what drive you towards your goal –the fact that you also get healthier and fit is just “icing on the cake”. 

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

I was talking with a new client the other day and I asked her to describe her appetite.  She thought for a minute, then told me, “I can’t really say that I ever get hungry.”  She ate frequently throughout the day (maybe a little too frequently), and on a fairly set schedule.  So she relied on the clock – not her hunger – to tell her when it was time to eat.  And when I asked her how she knew when she’d had enough –that it was time to stop eating – she was completely stumped.  “I don’t have a clue,” she said.  “I’ve never really thought about it.”

When I ask questions like this, what I hope to hear someone say is that they eat when they feel hungry and stop eating when they feel satisfied – not stuffed – and their hunger is gone.  But when clients tell me that they don’t get hungry – or that the signal to stop eating is that “there’s no food left” – it tells me that when their body is speaking to them, they’re just not listening.

Your body sends clear and unmistakable signals when it needs attention.  You know what it means when your mouth is dry, your eyelids are heavy or your bladder is full.  And while you might be able to ignore those signals for a little while – sooner or later you’ll be driven to drink something, get some sleep, or make a trip to the restroom.

If you think of hunger and fullness the same way – as clear signals from your body that it’s time to eat or time to stop – it can really help to regulate your how much food you eat.  To be fair, not everyone feels hunger quite the same way – most feel a little rumble in the stomach, but some get a little lightheaded or their thinking gets fuzzy when their blood sugar dips between meals.  But these are still very clear signals coming from within – your body is telling you that it’s getting low on fuel. And when your stomach begins to fill, nerve impulses are sent to the brain, telling you that you’re satisfied – at which point, it’s appropriate to stop.

When we’re thirsty, we generally will drink – not to excess – but until our bodies tell us that we’re not thirsty any more.  But when you eat, do you stop eating when you’re not hungry any more? Or do you stop because you’re stuffed?  Or do you stop because your plate is empty, or because you’ve scraped the last helping out of the serving plate?

Learning to recognize your body’s natural signals of hunger and satisfaction – and responding appropriately – are skills worth practicing.  Try keeping a food diary for a couple of days.  Each time you eat, rate your hunger on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 means you’re weak and starving, and 10 means you’re so stuffed you almost feel sick) both before you start eating and after you’ve finished.  Ideally, you want to start eating when your hunger is at about a 3 or 4 – your stomach is growling a little and you feel ready to eat – and you want to stop when you’re at about a 5 or 6, which means that you’re satisfied and pleasantly full.

It’s amazing how this little exercise can help to put you back in touch with your body. When your body starts to tell you it needs fuel, don’t ignore the signals.  If your usual habit is to let yourself get too hungry (a 1 or 2 on your hunger scale), you’re likely to overeat (hitting a 9 or 10).  Train yourself to eat just enough so that you’re comfortable, satisfied and no longer hungry – not until you’re stuffed.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

Good fats, bad fats – the proper balance is key.

 The nutrition story around fats used to be pretty simple:  saturated fats were the bad guys, and polyunsaturated fats were the good guys.  But the story has gotten a bit more complicated; now we’re talking about getting the right balance of fats – two kinds of polyunsaturated fats in particular,
 First, a little terminology. The terms ‘omega-3’ and ‘omega-6’ refer to the chemical structure of the fatty acid, and there are several omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that we eat, not just one.   And it’s not that either of these groups of fats is bad – in fact, within each group there are ‘essential’ fatty acids – ones we need to eat, because our bodies can’t make them.  In small amounts – and in the right balance – essential fatty acids serve to support growth, vision and brain function.

 The problem is that the balance in our diet is way off – our food supply is overloaded with the omega-6 fats, and we don’t get enough omega-3.  And when the balance is off, our health may suffer. 

 It wasn’t always this way – the diet our ancient ancestors ate had just the right balance of fatty acids from all the plant foods they ate – like vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.    While they don’t seem fatty, all plant foods contain traces of both essential fatty acids,  and it’s been estimated that  this hunter-gatherer diet contained roughly the same amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids – or a balance of about one-to-one.  

 But in the last 150 years or so, our food supply has changed so much, that we now eat about 15 times more omega-6 fats than omega-3s, which throws the ideal balance way off.  One of the biggest contributors to this imbalance is the huge amount of grain-based oils we eat – particularly corn oil, which is one of the richest sources of omega-6 fats.  We’re overloaded with omega-6 which is in everything from fried foods, baked goods, chips, salad dressings and sweets, and at the same time, we’re not eating nearly enough omega-3s – particularly from fish – but also from foods like vegetables and nuts, too.  

 Simply reducing the total amount of fat you eat will help to shift the balance, since most of the fatty foods we eat are the primary sources of omega-6 in the diet.  Then, try to eat more fish if you can.  If you don’t cook it often, start with canned tuna or salmon, which can be used in a lot of dishes in place of poultry – like casseroles and pasta.  If you can’t get fish on the menu a few times a week, you might want to consider a fish oil supplement.

 Veggies and fruits naturally have the right balance of fatty acids, so do your best to include some at every meal.  Fruits have fat mostly in their seeds, so those with edible seeds – like berries and kiwi – are great sources of these healthy fats.  Think about nuts and seeds for snacks, too.  They’re a great substitute for chips and crackers that can be full of the less healthy omega-6s.

 Herbalife markets omega-3 supplements.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

It’s always funny to me when people ask me how my kids ate when they were little. I’m sure that most of them think that since I do what I do, my kids must have been perfect eaters – or that I had some special tricks up my sleeve that made them beg for broccoli. Truth be told, my kids were no different from most other kids – they had their likes and their dislikes – and they’d go on food jags where they’d want to eat the same thing every single day.

Naturally, it did concern me a bit that their nutritional needs weren’t always being met, but there were several really healthy foods that they were almost always willing to eat. I just downplayed the “healthy” part – because once you tell kids something is “good for you”, that’s one of the quickest, surest paths to rejection.

So here’s a list of are of my top-rated foods for kids – they’re good, and good for them:

•Tunafish – Many kids turn their noses up at fish, but they’ll eat tuna salad. Like all fish, tuna is a great source of healthy omega-3 fatty acids and is rich in protein. Try mixing your canned tuna with mashed avocado instead of mayonnaise for a healthier tuna salad, and serve with some whole grain crackers – kids love to make their own little cracker sandwiches.
•Smoothies – A lot of kids fall short when it comes to meeting their calcium needs, and many don’t eat enough fruit, so smoothies can help fill both gaps. They’re quick and easy to make, and they’re great when things get rushed in the morning. Kids love to make their own – if you’ve got lowfat milk, protein powder and some frozen fruit at hand, your kids can take it from there.
•Carrots – Kids and vegetables often don’t mix, but sweet, crunchy raw carrots are an exception. Carrots are rich in beta carotene to help support healthy skin and eyesight, and they’re also a good source of fiber. They’re fun to eat plain, or dipped in fat-free ranch, salsa or guacamole.
•Oatmeal – It takes just a few minutes to cook up some rolled oats which are naturally rich in fiber and B-vitamins. Try making it with nonfat milk or soymilk rather than water, to boost calcium and protein, then sweeten lightly, and stir in some diced fruit like bananas or apples.
•Strawberries – Kids love strawberries because they taste so good – but they’re also packed with vitamin C, potassium and fiber. When fresh berries are unavailable, use the frozen whole berries in smoothies or mixed with yogurt.
•Nuts – Instead of chips, offer kids nuts to satisfy their craving for something crunchy and salty. Tree nuts like almonds, walnuts or pistachios provide healthy fats, protein and minerals like zinc and magnesium.
•Beans – Beans do double nutrition duty for kids – they’re not only a good source of iron but they’re a great fiber source, too. Most kids will eat canned beans seasoned with a touch or ketchup, barbecue sauce or salsa – you can also try bean soup, or whirl some beans in the blender with a little salt, lemon and olive oil for a tasty hummus dip for raw veggies.

*Herbalife markets protein shake mixes for kids.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

 If you’re not a big fan of vegetables, you might think that you can make up for it by eating lots of fruit. It’s easy to see why – we almost always mention them in the same breath (“eat plenty of fruits and veggies!”) and, since they’re healthy plant foods, it’s natural to assume that they’re more or less interchangeable in terms of providing the nutrients the body needs. 

 And to some extent that’s true. You can get your vitamin C just as easily from berries as from broccoli;  potassium lurks in both beets and bananas. But fruits and veggies also offer up dizzying (and varied) array of phytonutrients – natural plant compounds that can promote good health.  So getting the broadest range of phytonutrients is a lot more likely if you’re eating both fruits and vegetables.

 Phytonutrients are responsible for the flavors and colors in fruits and vegetables. And when you think about fruits and vegetables more from the standpoint the huge range of flavors and hues they provide – and not so much as simply sources of vitamins and minerals – you can begin to appreciate how dissimilar they really are.  

Berries and broccoli, for example, may look similar when it comes to their vitamin C content, but their phytonutrient profiles couldn’t be more different.  Berries get their red-purple color from compounds called anthocyanins – which are a lot more widespread in fruits than in vegetables.  On the other hand, isothiocyanates are the phytonutrients responsible for the strong odors found in broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower – but you won’t find these smelly compounds in fruits.  Another natural pigment, lycopene, gives a rich red color to fruits like tomato (yes, it’s a fruit), pink grapefruit and guava, but you’d be hard-pressed to find much in most vegetables.

I meet plenty of people who assume that eating fruits OR vegetables is just as good as eating fruits AND vegetables – so I use often use these examples to encourage them to get more variety in the diet.  If this sounds like you, think of the hurdles in your way and how you might get over them. 

 Fewer people dislike fruits than veggies, and it’s often an issue of texture.  If you don’t like the soft texture of ripe fruit, try whirling fresh or frozen fruit in the blender and add to smoothies or use as a topping on cottage cheese or yogurt.  If some fruits are too tart for you, try the sweetest varieties – tangerines, for example, are often sweeter than most oranges. 

 If you don’t like the texture of cooked veggies, try them raw.  If strong flavors keep you from eating veggies, play around with seasonings – like herbs, garlic or citrus.  You can also ‘sneak’ them into soups, pasta sauces and casseroles.  Or, cook them until tender-crisp, then chill and toss into a salad – that way you won’t pick up their strong odors in the steam.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

Here’s a way to look at it.  Think of the changes you’re going to make in your lifestyle as an investment.  You could rely on an aggressive strategy that might give you quick rewards – but there’s also a high risk that it won’t.  On the other hand, you could ‘diversify’ – and use blend of strategies that are more likely to give you the results you’re after, even though it may take a little longer.  So when you’re investing in your health for the long term, slow and steady usually wins the race.

When you take a closer look at the foods you routinely eat – and your everyday exercise patterns -  it’s amazing how a little fine tuning can add up to big rewards. Here are some recent changes I worked out with a patient of mine – enough to lead to the loss of 60 pounds in a year:

• Add 20 extra minutes to daily exercise – it could be an additional 20 minutes of brisk walking in the morning, or a second walk later in the day.  The extra 100 calories burned per day could mean 10 pounds lighter at the end of a year.
• If your usual breakfast five days a week is a coffee drink and a bagel with cream cheese, a switch to a protein shake will shave off about 250 calories a day – enough to drop more than 18 pounds in a year.
• A healthy habit of eating salad about 7 times a week is a bit counterproductive if the greens are drenched in dressing.  Reducing the amount of salad dressing from three tablespoons to one will lead to savings of more than 1000 calories a week – and the loss of about 16 pounds in a year.
• About three times a week, instead of having a candy bar as an afternoon pick-me-up, have a small protein bar and a cup of tea instead. You could be cutting as much as 600 calories a week – enough to shed nearly 9 pounds in a year.
• Sandwiches are eaten 5 times a week on average and always include a slice of cheese.  Lose the cheese and replace with veggies, and save 500 calories a week.  Another 7 pounds could be lost in a year with this one change.
• Dessert is eaten six times a week – usually cookies or ice cream, to the tune of about 200 calories.  Swap for a piece of fruit, and cut enough calories to lose another 10 pounds in a year.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

 So, aside from the food, what makes a meal memorable?  Maybe it was your dining companions. Maybe, instead of shoveling it down, you lingered and talked over a meal.  Maybe it was the way the food was presented on the plate, or the shiny silverware, or the slice of lemon in your ice water.  Or it could have been the cool jazz playing, or the candlelight, the crisp linens or the sprig of fresh green basil nestled next to the grilled fish.

 All our senses are involved when we eat.  When a plate of food is appealing to the eye, has a wonderful aroma, and a variety of flavors and textures, we take note.  And we usually rate those meals as not only more pleasant – but more satisfying, too.

 If your eating has become routine – and your meals look the same, day after day  – that could spell trouble.  In an attempt to get more satisfied, you may find yourself eating more, but enjoying it less.

 So why not try making meals little more special?

It doesn’t take much.  Turn off the television and listen to some music.  Throw a tablecloth on the table, grab a cloth napkin and maybe light a candle or two.   Having leftovers?  Try putting them on a plate – rather than eating them out of a plastic container. 

And try a little accessorizing.  A ripe red strawberry on top of a protein shake would brighten anyone’s day; a shower of fresh chopped parsley on top of your grilled chicken or fish takes it from drab to delightful.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

There are plenty of reasons that people stick to the same diet day after day. Their choices are influenced by what they like, what they can afford, what they know how to prepare, and what’s convenient. Some people tell me that they eat the same thing every day because those are the only foods they trust will keep their weight stable. I’ve met others who are so health-oriented, that they eat the same thing every day just so they can hit their nutritional targets. I had one patient who ate only very precise amounts of what he considered to be ‘superfoods’ every single day – no more, no less.

I meet plenty of people who tend to eat the same foods day in and day out – and they want to know if that’s good or bad. In order to sort it out, I try to help them see the difference between a dietary routine and a dietary rut. There’s a big difference between having a fairly consistent eating pattern (a routine), as opposed to eating the exact same foods every day (a rut).

My pattern, for example, looks like more or less like this:
Breakfast: protein and fruit/veggies
Lunch: protein and veggies
Snack: protein and fruit
Dinner: protein, veggies and a healthy carb

But within that pattern, what I eat every day varies – a lot. And it makes good nutritional sense to do that. Because every food you eat offers a unique blend of nutrients. Strawberries and mangoes are both fruits – and broccoli and asparagus are both vegetables – but each food offers up very different nutrients to your body. Brown rice and sweet potatoes may both be healthy carbs – but, nutritionally speaking, they’re as different as night and day.

If you’re relying on the same foods day after day, make an effort to try a new food once or twice a week. Instead of your usual salad made with romaine lettuce, try raw spinach instead. Cook a vegetable you’ve always wondered about but have never actually eaten. Or try a new variety of something you eat all the time – maybe a deep red ‘blood’ orange instead of the usual navel, or some purple cauliflower instead of the traditional white. One of the quickest ways out of a food rut is to think of each and every eating occasion as an opportunity to ‘mix it up’.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.